The Effect of Harmonic Accompaniment on the Tonal Achievement and Tonal Improvisations of Children in Kindergarten and First Grade

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of harmonic accompaniment on the tonal achievement and tonal improvisations of young children. The specific problems of this study were the following: (1) Does the addition of a root melody accompaniment to song instruction affect the tonal achievement of children in kindergarten and first grade? (2) Does the addition of a root melody accompaniment to song instruction affect the tonal strength of the improvisations of children in kindergarten and first grade? Results indicated that song instruction with a root melody accompaniment had no significant effect on the tonal achievement of children in kindergarten and first grade. However, children who received song instruction with root melody accompaniment improvised melodies with implied harmonic functions while maintaining the tonic pitch and tonality of the song better than those children who did not have such instruction.